Hal’s father was better than his own. He put a hand to Gryff’s shoulder and said, quietly insistent, “You belong here.”

And he was right. This mews was like the best part of home had been transported here. It was like the magical places in tales and legends, where two realms overlapped and he could briefly pass from one world into the other.

He picked up the leather strips held out to him and made new jesses for the gyrfalcon. Working with hawks required a steady hand and a quiet mind; they could sense turmoil in a man, and would not trust him if he was not calm.

Hal’s father kept him busy for days, for weeks – for as long as was needed to soothe the heartbreak, he said, for there was no better cure for it.

Hal himself suggested that a better cure would be for Gryff to seduce the friend with whom Isabel had been gossiping. “Or whichever lady at court is most likely to stir her envy.”

They narrowed it down to three friends who may have gossiped with her, and three more who would make her writhe with jealousy. Gryff had all but one in his bed within a fortnight, and found Hal was right – it worked nearly as well to help him forget as the falconry did. When Isabel cursed him for his faithlessness and called him a swyving whoreson, no better than a rutting beast in heat, he apologized most cordially and explained she could not expect better behavior from an ignorant savage.

Chapter Five

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Walking at Nan’s side with the mule between them was far less distracting, but he did miss the view of her golden braid trailing down her back. He had thought she would speak more now that the silence between them had been broken, but three more wordless days proved him a fool to expect it.

Well, the days were not entirely wordless. “Which bit should I give her?” she had asked yesterday, beaming at the falcon from afar, one hunter admiring the skill of another as she cleaned the small heron that Tiffin had brought down. Nan bade him good night every evening, and good morning too, almost like those few words were a duty she had neglected. And of course when the dog made too much noise she hissed his name in admonishment. Fuss.